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<title>SSL Settings</title>
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<h1 id="ssl_settings">SSL Settings</h1>

<p>This section describes how to set your SSL preferences.</p>

<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#privacy_and_security_preferences_ssl">Privacy &amp; Security
      Preferences - SSL</a></li>
  </ul>
</div>

<h2 id="privacy_and_security_preferences_ssl">Privacy &amp; Security
  Preferences - SSL</h2>

<p>This section describes how to use the SSL preferences panel. If you are not
  already viewing the panel, follow these steps:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
    <span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
  <li>Under the Privacy &amp; Security category, click SSL. (If no
    subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy &amp; Security to expand
    the list.)</li>
</ol>

<h3 id="ssl_protocol_versions">SSL Protocol Versions</h3>

<p>The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol defines rules governing mutual
  authentication between a website and browser software and the encryption of
  information that flows between them. The Transport Layer Security (TLS)
  protocol is an IETF standard based on SSL. TLS 1.0 can be thought of as SSL
  3.1.</p>

<p>You should normally leave all of the following checkboxes selected to ensure
  that both older and newer web servers can work with the browser:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Enable SSL 3.0</strong>: Allows web servers that support SSL 3.0
    to work with the browser.</li>
  <li><strong>Enable TLS 1.0</strong>: Allows newer web servers that support TLS
    to take advantage of it.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Important note regarding TLS</strong>: Some servers that do not
  implement SSL correctly cannot negotiate the SSL handshake with client
  software (such as the browser) that supports TLS. Such servers are known as
  <q>TLS intolerant</q>.</p>

<p>When the Enable TLS 1.0 option in the SSL preferences panel is selected, the
  browser attempts to use the TLS protocol when making secure connections with
  a server. If that connection fails because the server is TLS intolerant, the
  browser will fall back to using SSL 3.0 (if enabled).</p>

<h3 id="ssl_warnings">SSL Warnings</h3>

<p>It&apos;s easy to tell when the website you are viewing is using an encrypted
  connection. If the connection is encrypted, the lock icon in the lower-right
  corner of the browser window is locked. If the connection is not encrypted,
  the lock icon is unlocked.</p>

<p>If you want additional warnings, you can select one or more of the warning
  checkboxes in the SSL preferences panel. Some people find these warnings
  annoying.</p>

<p>To activate any of these warnings, select the corresponding checkbox:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Loading a page that supports encryption</strong>: Select this
    warning if you want to be reminded whenever you are loading a page that
    supports encryption.</li>
  <li><strong>Leaving a page that supports encryption</strong>: Select this
    warning if you want to be reminded whenever you are leaving a page that
    supports encryption for one that does not.</li>
  <li><strong>Sending form data from an unencrypted page to an unencrypted
    page</strong>: Select this warning if you want to be reminded whenever you
    are submitting data over an unencrypted connection. If you send unencrypted
    information over the Internet, it can easily be intercepted by other
    people.</li>
  <li><strong>Viewing a page with an encrypted/unencrypted mix</strong>:
    Select this warning if you want to be alerted whenever you are viewing a
    page that includes any information that&apos;s not encrypted.</li>
</ul>

<p>For short definitions, click
  <a href="glossary.xhtml#authentication">authentication</a>,
  <a href="glossary.xhtml#encryption">encryption</a>, or
  <a href="glossary.xhtml#certificate">certificate</a>.</p>

<p>For more information about ciphers and encryption, see the following online
  documents:</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    <a href="http://developer.mozilla.org/en/Introduction_to_Public-Key_Cryptography">Introduction
    to Public-Key Cryptography</a></li>
  <li>
    <a href="http://developer.mozilla.org/en/Introduction_to_SSL">Introduction
    to SSL</a></li>
  <li>
    <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/nss-3.11/nss-3.11-algorithms.html">Encryption
    Technologies Available in NSS 3.11</a>.</li>
</ul>

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